New Impreza hits the streets
But it won't set your hair on fire
Subaru Impreza 1.5R Sports Wagon
Called the 1.5R Sports Wagon, and available from 1 October, the five-door-only model costs £12,495 on-the-road -- only £500 more than the most basic five-door Ford Focus, which lacks 4WD, alloy wheels, air-conditioning, rear electric windows and a CD player.
However, it's a tad under-powered, with only a 104bhp four-pot 1.5-litre boxer engine that hauls it up to 60mph in a tardy 13.5 seconds.
Top speed is 109 mph, and fuel economy is 27.2mpg on the urban cycle, 44.1 mpg on the extra urban cycle and 35.8mpg combined. Exhaust emissions are 184g/km.
The motor features twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank plus a form of variable valve timing that's said to enhance both low-speed pulling power and high-rev response. The 1.5's bore and stroke dimensions have been "selected to optimise combustion efficiency for low emissions and fuel consumption while providing strong power and torque", according to Subaru. The new 1.5 litre shares its 79 mm stroke with the four-cylinder 2.5 litre turbo engine, although its bore dimension is a much smaller 77.7 mm.
Other efficiency measures include low-friction, lighter valve springs and a 4-2-1 equal length, ‘constant-pulsation’ exhaust system which avoids gas flow interference and speeds up the warm-up of the catalytic converter.
Subaru's standard equipment includes symmetrical all-wheel drive with a dual-range, low-ratio transfer ’box, alloy wheels, climate-control air-conditioning, radio/cassette/CD player, front and rear electric windows plus driver, passenger and side airbags.
Subaru hopes to appeal to former owners of its smaller Justy model which ceased production in the late '90s. The last smaller-engined Impreza was the 1.6 TS Sports Wagon, introduced as part of the 2001 model year ‘bug-eye’ range. At its introduction in November 2000, the 1.6 TS cost £13,950, £1,455 more than the new 1.5R. This is despite lacking the new car’s higher equipment such as air-conditioning and side airbags.
There's lots of other features too -- good handling from its MacPherson strut suspension, according to Subaru, a nice five-speed manual box and a 4WD system that apportions traction to the wheel with the most grip; it should be good for towing.
And you get a three-year/60k-mile warranty plus 12 year anti-corrosion cover and three year paintwork warranty.
Subaru's UK boss Peter Kinnaird said: "This new model opens up a whole new market for us appealing to two kinds of customer. For example, there will be those who need the reassurance that only all-wheel drive traction can give. Others may have always wanted to enjoy the outstanding roadholding and quality engineering provided by the Impreza but do not need the performance of the 2.0R and turbo models."
also, "should be good for towing"???? yeah, if you tow a very very small trailer, never want to go above 40mph or up a hill, then yeah i agree!
Maybe Subaru havent realised that in the UK they are now seen as more of a performance brand than a numpty farmer car club. They must be one of the only manufacturers that sells more of its high performance models that the basic spec ones in the uk.
The new 1.5 litre shares its 79 mm stroke with the four-cylinder 2.5 litre turbo engine, although its bore dimension is a much smaller 77.7 mm.
Now that alone would put me off the car. The stroke matches that of an engine designed to be a litre bigger?? No thanks. I like responsive, free-revving engines. With a stroke that long this will be anything but.
they used to have 1.5 and 1.6 2wd versions of the old impreza,
Nope, they made a few fwd budget models as well until they decided to focus on AWD and move their brand further up-market. There were also 1.8 and 2.0 fwd and selectable 4wd versions of the 1st-gen Legacy which the Impreza chassis was developed from. They might not have sold any in the UK, but theres still quite a few floating round down here in NZ.
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